The big news of MW13 is that Fulham have appointed Italian veteran Claudio Ranieri as manager after sacking Slavisa Jokanovic in a bid to beat the drop from the Premier League. Jokanovic led Fulham back into England’s top flight in May 2018 but the 50-year-old Serbian has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League. After 12 games, Fulham sit bottom of the pile with just five points and one win from 12 games. Italian journeyman Ranieri has previously coached Napoli, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Valencia, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and the Greek national team. But winning the title with Leicester two years ago remains the affable 67-year-old’s biggest career achievement.

As Premier League football returns this weekend after a thrilling international break that saw Harry Kane’s late goal seal a 2-1 win over Croatia to send England into next summer’s Nations League semi-finals, the Three Lions captain will be back in action at Wembley on Saturday as Tottenham host Chelsea in what should prove to be a feisty London derby. Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace are all in action as well on a bumper Saturday, but the weekend doesn’t end there as Arsenal are set for a tough test on the south coast against high-flying Bournemouth on Sunday.

MATCHWEEK 13 – SCHEDULE

MatchWeek 13 Points Table

What we learned in MatchWeek 12Including a long-awaited home goal by a Huddersfield Town player, see the standout statistics from the Weekend 12’s fixtures

Cardiff City 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
This became the 100th different fixture to have been played in all four top divisions of English footballHuddersfield Town 1-1 West Ham United
Alex Pritchard is the first Huddersfield player to score a PL goal at home in 726 minutes of action, since Tom Ince against Watford in AprilLeicester City 0-0 Burnley
Leicester mustered 22 shots in the match, the most they have attempted in a PL fixture without scoring since they returned to the top flight in 2014/15Newcastle 2-1 AFC Bournemouth
Newcastle United have won their first consecutive Premier League matches since April, when they won four in a rowSouthampton 1-1 Watford
Watford’s Jose Holebas, with two goals and four assists, is the defender directly involved in the most Premier League goals this seasonCrystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have won 12 Premier League away matches in 2018, the most in the divisionLiverpool 2-0 Fulham
Liverpool’s total of 30 points from their opening 12 Premier League matches is their joint-best, level with 2002/03Chelsea 0-0 Everton
Chelsea are unbeaten after their opening 12 matches for only the second time, also doing so in 2014/15 when they won the titleArsenal 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Ivan Cavaleiro’s goal gave Wolves their first ever lead in the Premier League against Arsenal, at the ninth attemptManchester City 3-1 Manchester United
Ilkay Gundogan’s goal came after a 44-pass move, the most for a Premier League goal since the 45 passes before Juan Mata scored for Man Utd v Southampton in September 2015

MatchWeek 13 Stats: Salah eyes more joy at WatfordWhy the Liverpool star should be relishing his trip to Vicarage Road plus other need-to-know facts from the weekend’s matches

Brighton vs Leicester
Expect goals in this fixture. Since the start of last season, Leicester City have both scored and conceded in a league-high 32 PL matchesEverton vs Cardiff
Everton are defending an unbeaten run of 13 PL home matches against promoted sides, winning the last nine. Their last such defeat was against Crystal Palace in April 2014Fulham vs Southampton
After Southampton won their last match in London, at Crystal Palace, they have a chance for a first run of two consecutive league victories in the capital since 2014/15, when they beat Palace and QPRMan Utd vs Crystal Palace
Juan Mata likes facing Palace at Old Trafford, scoring in two of his three PL home matches for Manchester United against them. The Spaniard is also just one away from 50 goals and 50 assists in the competitionWatford vs Liverpool
Mohamed Salah has a superb record against Watford. The Egyptian has an amazing five goals and one assist from only two matches against themWest Ham vs Man City
Manchester City can become only the second non-London club to win six consecutive top-flight fixtures in the capital. The only other team to do so were Portsmouth, between December 1950 and December 1951Spurs vs Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur can secure a second consecutive league victory over Chelsea for the first time since August 1987AFC Bournemouth vs Arsenal
Callum Wilson has scored in all three of his top-flight appearances against Arsenal. The forward can match Charlie Austin’s Premier League record of scoring in each of his four matches against the GunnersWolves vs Huddersfield
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matt Doherty has created 10 PL chances for Raul Jimenez this season. Only Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson has created more for one team-mate in the competition, with 12 for Michael KeaneBurnley v Newcastle
The home team has scored first in all four PL meetings between these sides but only once have they gone on to win. That was when Burnley triumphed 1-0 in this fixture last seasonCourtesy – PremierLeague.com

Game Review – Our Super 8 Brighton vs Leicester
Leicester City are aiming to extend a three-match unbeaten run and keep a third successive clean sheet as they visit Brighton & Hove Albion, who are seeking to bounce back from defeat in their last two fixtures.

Brighton’s Glenn Murray has scored five goals in his five PL home matches this season, with those strikes being worth seven points. But he has faced Leicester more often without scoring than any other opponent in English league football, drawing a blank in seven matches

Everton vs Cardiff
Everton are aiming to pick up where they left off before the international break, having won three of their last five matches and secured a goalless draw at Chelsea while Cardiff City are bidding to move out of the relegation zone after triumphing in two of their last four fixtures.

Everton are unbeaten in their last eight top-flight home matches against Cardiff and have won the last three by an aggregate score of 15-5, while Cardiff’s last league win over the Toffees came back in December 1956.

Since arriving at Goodison Park, Gylfi Sigurdsson has been directly involved in more PL goals than any other Everton player, scoring nine times and adding five assists.

Fulham vs Southampton
Claudio Ranieri will aim to make an instant impact at Craven Cottage in his first match in charge of bottom side Fulham, while visiting Southampton are targeting a first victory in nine Premier League matches.

Man Utd vs Crystal Palace
Manchester United will aim to bounce back from their derby defeat by Manchester City and improve on their eighth-placed position while visiting Crystal Palace are seeking a first victory in eight Premier League matches.

Juan Mata, who has scored in two of his three PL home matches for United against Palace, has produced 49 goals and 49 assists in the competition

Romelu Lukaku has scored in six of his last eight PL appearances against Palace, including both for Man Utd last season.

Watford vs Liverpool
Watford will attempt to return to winning ways and improve on their seventh-place position when they host unbeaten Liverpool, who are seeking to replace Manchester City at the top of the table.

There has never been a goalless draw in the 22 top-flight meetings between Watford and Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in six goals in his two PL matches against Watford, with five strikes and one assist. Of those who have played a minimum of two matches against a single opponent in the competition, Luis Suarez is the only player with a better goal involvement-per-match ratio, with 3.5 against Cardiff City.

Roberto Firmino has been involved in seven goals in his last five PL matches against Watford, with four strikes and three assists. He scored and set up a goal in the 3-3 draw at Vicarage Road last season.

West Ham vs Man City
Unbeaten leaders Manchester City are targeting a fifth straight Premier League victory as they visit a West Ham United side who are unbeaten in their last three matches.

David Silva has been directly involved in eight goals in his 11 PL matches against West Ham, with four strikes and four assists. He only has a better record against Newcastle United in the competition, having been involved in nine goals

Spurs vs Chelsea
This is the match of MW13 and sparks are sure to fly when top four contenders and London rivals Spurs and Chelsea lock horns. A single point separates the two clubs in overall standings and a win would be huge for both clubs. With the home ground advantage, fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur look favourites as they target a seventh victory from eight Premier League matches as they host their third-placed London rivals Chelsea, who are seeking to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Dele Alli has scored five goals in his last four matches against Chelsea in all competitions

Bournemouth vs Arsenal
Sixth-placed AFC Bournemouth are aiming to bounce back after successive defeats as they host Arsenal, in fifth, who are seeking to halt a three-match winless streak in the Premier League.

Callum Wilson, who has scored in all three of his top-flight appearances against Arsenal, can now match Charlie Austin’s EPL record of netting in each of his four matches against the Gunners.

Wolves vs Huddersfield
Wolverhampton Wanderers will seek to build on their draw at Arsenal and secure a first Premier League victory in five matches as they entertain Huddersfield Town, who are unbeaten in their last two outings.

Wolves’ Matt Doherty has created 10 chances for Raul Jimenez in the Premier League this season. Only Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson has created more for one team-mate in the competition, with 12 for Michael Keane

Steve Mounie will hope that his efforts in front of goal will be rewarded after having 21 shots without scoring this season, more than any other PL player. In total he has gone 31 shots without a goal, since netting against Brighton & Hove Albion in April

Burnley vs Newcastle
Burnley are targeting a first victory in six Premier League matches as they host Newcastle United, who are only ahead of them on goal difference but have won their last two fixtures.

Spurs are on a four-game winning run in all competitions and pose a serious threat to Chelsea’s excellent start to the season, and Week 13 could end up being a good one for City, as second-placed Liverpool also face a tough trip to Watford. Pep Guardiola’s side hold a two-point lead at the head of the Premier League. They face West Ham United, a fixture they won 4-1 last season. Despite City’s relatively narrow lead, it has felt for a couple of weeks as though Chelsea and Liverpool are only just clinging on in the title race. If one or both of them drop points this weekend and City win, the odds on the Sky Blues successfully defending their title will be slashed even further.

Chelsea surprisingly failed to find the net last time out as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge by Everton. Blues manager Maurizio Sarri will be looking to Alvaro Morata to trouble the Spurs defence on Saturday having netted three in three preceding the Everton game. After starting the season in blistering fashion, Eden Hazard’s goals have dried up of late. He last found the net against Southampton on October 7th. If the Belgium international and Morata can’t rediscover their scoring form against Spurs, the north Londoners will have a terrific chance of claiming a win that would propel them back into the title race.

At the other end of the league, Fulham’s clash with Southampton at Craven Cottage could prove to be a crucial moment in the relegation battle. It will be Claudio Ranieri’s first match in charge of the Cottagers and he will be eager to make a winning start to potentially lift his new side off the bottom of the table.

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